BANKING ANALYTICS

Ranking of the Azerbaijani banking sector (ranking includes the information component of the banking sector, the main events of the world economy, the analytical review of the main indices of the banks which are being ranked)

Europe to help Congo but cool on troops

Two European ministers promised help on Saturday to
desperate refugees who have fled fighting in east Congo, but played down the
idea of the European Union sending troops there to protect civilians, Reuters reported.

People driven from their homes mobbed French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner and Foreign Secretary David Miliband at a camp in
Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where a recent rebel
offensive triggered a humanitarian crisis.

The ministers were on a mission to gauge what aid the EU
could give to Congo's government and hard-pressed United Nations peacekeepers
and foreign aid workers struggling to help tens of thousands of starving,
thirsty and exhausted people.

France, which holds
the rotating EU presidency, this week proposed the idea of the bloc sending up
to 1,500 troops to Congo to support the 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission
there and to help deliver increased humanitarian assistance.

But while Kouchner and Miliband both said a humanitarian
operation was on the cards, they indicated the option of an EU military
deployment, which has encountered resistance from some European member states,
was only under study.

Miliband and Kouchner, who earlier met Congolese President
Joseph Kabila, travelled on to neighbouring Rwanda to lobby President Paul
Kagame's government to support a lasting peace deal in North Kivu. Congo and Rwanda have accused each other of backing rival rebel groups.

The recent offensive by Tutsi rebels loyal to renegade
General Laurent Nkunda, and killings and looting by Congolese army troops, have
created what foreign relief workers call a catastrophic situation in North Kivu.

But a cease-fire declared by Nkunda seemed to be holding.

While Miliband and Kouchner pledged more European aid,
refugees said what they really needed was more security.

"We only want to
return home. Food isn't a solution," refugee Emelie Manigera said at
Kibati.